2015 National Gathering

March 16th-18th, 2015 || Chicago, IL

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Why Do Presbyterians Cross the Road?

Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. This November, we are examining what strong-benevolent Christian identity looks like in our pluralistic world. Many of this month’s contributors attended a conference with Brian McLaren, author of Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?, on October 15th at George Mason University and will be reflecting on their experiences there. 

By Mick Burns

An Imam, a Rabbi, a Baptist pastor and a Presbyterian Minister crossed the road…

…to the first tee.

interfaithGolf

They were teamed up to play golf at an interfaith fundraising event. After introductions were made at the first tee, these religious leaders were informed that it was going to be a “skins” match. They were all a bit nervous and afraid to ask for a definition of a “skins” match. Was it even proper for a spiritual leader to ask about skins?

No, it is not a joke. This really happened!

It was my first real interfaith experience years ago when I became involved with the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion in the Detroit Metro Area. It was an enjoyable fundraising event. Hanging out with the Rabbi, the Imam and another pastor was a delight. Introductions and friendships were being made as religious leaders made room in their schedules to reach out to one another and make a difference by modeling a way forward.

Leaving Michigan I moved to the Fairfax area in 2009. Not long after my move I was befriended by a local Imam who showed up at my office door. Since then we have shared meals, and on two occasions, members of our congregation have joined members of his mosque for dinner as we broke fast during Ramadan. Naturally, I was excited to hear that noted Christian pastor, author, speaker, and activist Brian McLaren was coming to speak at George Mason University in October. The topic was related to his recent book, Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road? Christian Identity in a Multi‐Faith World. It was a pleasure to hang out with some like-minded leaders at the event at GMU sponsored by “Arise Campus Ministry.”

As I learned back in Michigan, when four religious leaders cross the road together, even to play golf, good things can happen and good things do happen. It was not different this time. Several members and friends from local Presbyterian congregations are meeting and discussing McLaren’s book. They formed their own group called, “Presbyterians Crossing the Road,” and are thinking about ways to continue interfaith dialogue in our community. Soon Interfaith services will take place on Thanksgiving Eve; one continuing a long tradition, another beginning a new one.

Two main questions were posed in the promotional material for the McLaren event. Can you be a committed Christian without having to condemn or convert people of other faiths? Is it possible to affirm other religions traditions without watering down your own?

Why do Presbyterians cross the road? Answer: To get to the other side of interfaith dialogue.

As very busy religious leaders, it is becoming more and more difficult to find time for things outside the life of the church, even though we have all heard the mantra to be “missional.” The fact is, running our churches takes a lot of time. However, interfaith work is worth our investment.

Brian McLaren’s work about interfaith relations is extremely helpful in that he reframes the conversation for us today. He reminds me of Walter Brueggemann. To me, part of Brueggemann’s genius is about how he uses language to reshape our thought. He is not satisfied with all the “theological jargon” of past Old Testament scholarship and he continues to come up with fresh new ways of re-framing our theological explorations. In a similar way McLaren’s genius is in reshaping our conversation for today.

As you know, McLaren and those in the emergent church movement have not been thrilled about the limitations of familiar clichés and pat answers to handle the tough problems in our world. In his book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, he outlines a path for Christians that helps us engage the contemporary world. He believes in the concepts that “hope happens.” When we cross the road with people of other faiths, hope happens. Brian McLaren reframes a host of theological doctrines as a way of engaging persons of other faiths without sacrificing our own beliefs In Jesus Christ.

When I served a church in Moorhead, MN my wife and I played in both indoor and outdoor co-ed soccer leagues for over thirteen years. Our team captain was a professor of plant sciences and people would come from all over the world to do a Ph.D. in advanced durum wheat genetics, etc. under his tutelage. As a result, we also happened to get some of the best soccer players from all over the world to play on our team. After thirteen years I counted that we had played with players from over 45 different countries. The best times were not just on the soccer fields. Once a month we gathered for potluck; a good Minnesota tradition. Everyone brought a dish to share from their home country. Our captain, a Christian from Syria, made the best hummus and baba ghanoush I have ever tasted. A Muslim teammate from Pakistan brought some amazing curry chicken, another Muslim friend from Iran would make Persian Fesenjun. Our Latin American friends from Chile, Ecuador, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Paraguay would not only share their wonderful food, they would share their passion for dancing, and those who wanted to learned a few more steps.

We played side by side with Bosnians who fled to this country to avoid ethnic cleansing. Over Turkish coffee we heard stories of religious hatred and malice from one gifted Bosnian player who lost most of his family to the war. It is amazing what happens when people break bread and hang out together. We learn, we grow and we prosper.

Most of us have already crossed the road of interfaith relationships or we probably would not be reading a blog on NextChurch. Part of the way ahead is to continue on this path as a model for the society in which we live. With the rise of Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, Christians need to step up and help others that are trying to cross the road, but are afraid of what might be on the other side.

 


 

The Rev. Dr. Michael P. BurnsThe Rev. Dr. Michael (Mick) Burns as served as the Senior Pastor of Providence Presbyterian Church in Fairfax, VA since July of 2009. He served Presbyterian churches in Beverly Hills, MI, Moorhead, MN, Grand Haven, MI and Willmar, MN before coming to Northern Virginia.

Mick is married to Joni, a teacher with Fairfax County Public Schools. They have been married for 35 years and have two sons and two grandchildren. 

“Will You Kiss the Leper Clean?” — On Ebola and Our Tribes

Each month, we post a series of blogs around a common topic. This November, we are examining what strong-benevolent Christian identity looks like in our pluralistic world. Many of this month’s contributors attended a conference with Brian McLaren, author of Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?, on October 15th at George Mason University and will be reflecting on their experiences there. 

By MaryAnn Mikibben Dana (This post was first published on October 16th on MaryAnn’s blog, The Blue Room. )

President Bartlet: Why is a Kundunese life worth less to me than an American life?
Will Bailey: I don’t know, sir, but it is.

-The West Wing, season 4 episode 14, “Inauguration, Part 1″

Yesterday I attended a workshop led by Brian McLaren, author of Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?*: Christian Identity in a Multi‐Faith World.

McLaren likes to mix things up in his work, blending Bible, theology, history and anthropology. He talked about our evolutionary history as a species—a story of expansion and migration from the southern part of Africa to all of the world’s major land masses in about 130,000 years. What allowed this expansion to happen? Our identity as tribal beings, McLaren argues. We cohere into groups. We put on our “tribal paint.” Sometimes that’s literal identifying marks—gang signs? hipster glasses? tricorn hats and NRA t-shirts? Sometimes it’s a religious or political doctrine to define who’s in and out.

And we band together against common enemies and threats. “When people feel that a group they value — be it racial, religious, regional or ideological — is under attack, they rally to its defense, even at some cost to themselves,” he said, quoting this article by Jonathan Haidt in the New York Times, called “Forget the Money, Follow the Sacredness.”

There’s evidence that this tribalism is hard-wired. Young children naturally gravitate to people who are like them, racially and socially.

Jesus, by contrast, breaks down this tribal identity in the gospels, constantly lifting up the dignity of those on the margins and outside of the club. It’s interesting to relate this posture of Jesus to the idea of his being “without sin,” or fully divine as well as fully human. Is there something about our tribal, with-us-or-against-us mentality that is fundamentally flawed, even sinful?

Sure, it’s the evolutionary mechanism by which we expanded and thrived as a species. But now a new evolutionary shift is necessary—because our tribe is the whole human race. Globalism means that what impacts people across the world will inevitably affect us here, sooner or later. Just look at climate change. Yes, more vulnerable populations will feel those effects sooner than more affluent ones. But we will all be affected, no matter what our tribe.

Or take Ebola. This past summer, when the death toll was confined to West Africa, I heard lots of genuine concern and sadness expressed… often followed by the sotto voce comment: “I just hope it doesn’t come here.”

Well, Ebola is on our shores now. How could it not be thus? As David Wilcox sings,“There is no more far away.” We may still have our tribes, but these tribes mix and infiltrate and bump up against one another on a massive scale, the likes of which we’ve not seen in those 130,000 years. Our ability to survive and thrive will depend on our ability to transcend our own tribalism, in effect to go against our own evolutionary wiring.

As a Christian, I see Jesus as the model for that work, though there are other models as well. But we know it when we see it—stunning examples of people going beyond their own self-interest and those of their immediate tribe. Sacrificial love. Love that costs something.

Consider this heartbreaking story from StoryCorps about nurses in Sierra Leone, and how difficult it has been not to offer basic human expressions of care to those who are grieving. Imagine not being able to hug someone who’s lost 10 members of their family.

One day, an Ebola-infected mother brought her baby into a hospital, Purfield recalls. The mother died, and the baby was left in a box.

“They tested the baby, and the baby was negative,” says Purfield. “But I think the symptoms in babies and the disease progression in babies is different than adults.

“So the nurses would pick up and cuddle the baby. And they were taking care of the baby in the box,” she continues.

Twelve of those nurses subsequently contracted Ebola, Purfield says. Only one survived.

“They couldn’t just watch a baby sitting alone in a box,” Dynes says.

The title of this post is from a popular Christian hymn called “The Summons” by John Bell. It’s been going through my head since the Ebola outbreak began. Those nurses who cared for that infant, refusing to let it just be a baby in the box, “kissed the leper clean.” But it may have cost them their lives. I hate that it did—I want such heroic love to be rewarded. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s not helpful for the good ones to die—we need their like to propagate. And I want nurses and doctors to take appropriate precautions.

But perhaps such stories can live on, to tug at our humanity and to inspire and direct us to seek out the path of sacrificial love, regardless of tribe.

~

*Why did they cross the road? To get to the “other.”

 

 


 

mamdMaryAnn McKibben Dana is a pastor, writer and co-chair of NEXT. Connect with her at her website, The Blue Room.

Strong Benevolent Faith Identity

By Marranda Major

I have taken it for granted that interfaith dialog has been a vital part of my spiritual formation. I was fortunate to have church mentors who encouraged my curiosity about other faiths and one Sunday school teacher who even devoted an entire year’s worth of curriculum to letting us explore world religions and the diversity among different Christian beliefs. During that year, my teacher often quoted Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, “test everything that is said, hold on to that which is good,” (5:21). That idea was huge for preteen Marranda and highly influential in shaping my worldview to be open, curious, and inquisitive. Learning how other religions relate to the divine and trying out different spiritual disciplines and practices helped me to become more rooted in my faith. I’ve never doubted how valuable these interfaith conversations were in shaping my Christian identity; but I have questioned what I have to offer to these discussions when there are so many Christian voices already at the table.

At my small liberal arts college, I had a very different experience of being one of few Christians present in discussions of faith. It was a bizarre sensation to be in theology seminars where very few (if any) students publicly identified as Christian. Within the intellectual conversation surrounding the violent history of the Church as an oppressor, it was easy to detach my beliefs and experiences of my home church from the institutional Church. When my classmates demanded a Christian response to critiques of hierarchical structures in the Church that have promoted sexist, racist, imperialist ideologies for the past millennium, I was not prepared to answer.

I struggled to own my public identity as a Christian, and I know I’m hardly the first person to be challenged to articulate my faith. A 2010 Pew Research report shows that Christians make up 31.5% of the world’s population: statistically, we are living in a more diverse, pluralistic society and our public faith identity is becoming ever more important. This November, writers for the NEXT Blog will take on strong benevolent faith identity and explore what that looks like in the public sphere.

 

Photo Credit: ARISE Campus Ministry

Photo Credit: ARISE Campus Ministry

This topic is inspired by a recent conference in which NEXT Church partnered with George Mason University’s ARISE campus ministry as well as several Northern Virginia area churches to bring Brian McLaren to speak about Christian identity as examined in his books Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World and Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words. The conference was open to local clergy and church leaders as well as GMU faculty and students. Most of this month’s contributors attended and will be blogging about the ideas struck them from McLaren’s talks, small group discussions, and dialog with the interfaith panel.

Have you had an interfaith encounter that informed your faith? What does your public Christian identity look like? Tell us in the comments section and join us this November as NEXT writers explore strong and benevolent faith identity!


 

Marranda MajorMarranda is the Young Adult Volunteer serving with NEXT Church. 

A Lonely Vocation

This month, NEXT Church is highlighting passionate leaders within the Presbyterian Church (USA) who are committed to equipping and supporting new pastors, alongside those up-and-coming leaders with whom they have connected or mentored. 

By Rachel Achtemeier Rhodes

cafeIt is a rare moment to be five feet inside the door of my church without someone saying, “Hi Rachel!” Similarly, it’s a common occurrence to be picking out produce at the grocery store, or going to yoga, or sharing a beer with friends over dinner and hear, “Hi Rachel!” If you’re looking for anonymity, then ministry is not the vocation for you. There are times when it feels like I can’t go anywhere without running into someone from the church. And yet, in a job where the “Cheers” anthem springs easily to mind and it seems that everybody really does know my name, it amazes me what a lonely vocation ministry can be.

Sure, people know my name. They know my husband, my dog, my new baby, and a few stories from my childhood that I’ve shared during youth group or in sermons. But on the whole, the people I serve day in and day out know much less about me than I do about them. They are not the people in my life with whom I let my guard down or share my whole self. Now, I’m not here to start a debate on whether one can or can’t (or perhaps should or shouldn’t) be friends with parishioners. I’ve got both wonderful and painful stories on both sides of that argument. Either way, there are times ministry is still lonely.  It has been abundantly important for my own health and the health of my ministry, to bring friends and colleagues along this journey with me. In this brief space I share a bit of how those relationships formed in my own life, and it is my hope that in the places God has called you to serve, you might find people with whom to share this lonely but joyous journey.

In 2012, I had the privilege of attending the Trent Symposium for Newly Ordained Ministers in Roanoke, VA. It was an invaluable experience and is still the best Continuing Education event I have ever attended. But perhaps what I gleaned most from my time at the Trent Symposium was this understanding that ministry is not a vocation you can (nor should you try to) get through alone. Several members of the leadership spoke fondly of clergy groups they had been a part of for decades; groups that met regularly for the purpose of learning from and supporting one another in ministry. But their groups also gathered for the purpose of knowing and caring for each another through the ebbs and flows of life and ministry: successes, failures, addictions, grief, hardship, joy, triumph, divorce, death, burnout, and more. It was a place to bring your whole self and a place where you could feel known, supported, cared for, and loved. I envied these peer groups they spoke about and found myself desiring to be a part of one.

I connected with two other participants at the Trent Symposium and we shared a desire to start our own unique group of support. Together, the three of us created a dream for what our group could be. Over the next several months, through much prayer and conversation, we decided that each of us would invite one other person to be a part of our group. This was not a time for us to pull in our best friend from seminary, but rather to expand our circle to include people from diverse experiences and backgrounds. Certainly we sought individuals in our stage of life, but we agreed to each invite someone who had attended a different seminary and was serving in ministry in a different location. Our hope was to create a group that could enjoy time with one another, learn from one another, and support one another in life and in ministry. By the grace of God and a leap of faith from six people who barely new each other, we have found just that.

For three years now, the six of us, from six different states and representing five different PC(USA) seminaries, have gathered once each year for a 5-day retreat. The congregations we serve range from small to large and exist in a variety of settings: rural, big city suburbs, small town, college campus, and a new worshipping community. Each year we have invited mentors to share their time and talent with us on a variety of topics as they relate to ministry in the church. And in addition to time spent with mentors, we have also taken time to rest, to worship, and to share the highs and lows of life and ministry. From the outset, we committed to spend a portion of our yearly continuing education budget to make this annual retreat happen. We were also fortunate to receive a grant from the College of Pastoral Leaders at Austin Seminary, which seeks to support and encourage groups just like ours. We will meet together again this January and it is a time I have come to look forward to every year.

I have been abundantly blessed by the energy, intelligence, imagination, and love of these five individuals who have and will continue to journey alongside me in life and ministry. They are people with whom I have cried in the face of tragedy and laughed until my sides hurt. They are people with whom I share a common calling and a common commitment to the Church and its witness. They have challenged, supported, and prayed for me as I have for them. Perhaps most importantly, they have made the journey of this vocation less lonely. It is my deepest prayer that God will continue to strengthen us and empower us for all that lays ahead.

 

rachelAfter receiving a bachelor’s degree from Hope College and a master’s of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, Rachel accepted the position of associate pastor at First Presbyterian in July 2010. Having grown up in the Presbyterian Church, Rachel has always held fast to the conviction that “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Because of God’s unending love for us, we are called to respond in faith, glorifying God and serving His people with energy, compassion, patience, imagination, and love. 

Peer Groups: Disdain or Praise?

This month, NEXT Church is highlighting passionate leaders within the Presbyterian Church (USA) who are committed to equipping and supporting new pastors, alongside those up-and-coming leaders with whom they have connected or mentored. 

george andersonGeorge C. Anderson is the Head of Staff of Second Presbyterian Church in Roanoke, Virginia.  George and the congregation he serves are heavily invested in programs for newly ordained PCUSA ministers.  Thanks to a Lilly study grant, George spent his recent sabbatical studying effective church programs in and outside of various denominations that nurture new pastors.  Through grants from the Kittye Susan Trent Endowment, Second Presbyterian hosts an annual week long symposium for new ministers that is co-sponsored by Union Presbyterian Seminary led primarily by experienced pastors and laypeople as well a colloquy for new ministers within the Presbytery of the Peaks that is spread out over three years.  Planned for April 18 through 21, 2016, a national Conference will be held called Trent@Montreat.  Sponsored by the NEXT Conference, Macedonian Ministries, Union Presbyterian Seminary, Montreat Conference Center, and Second Presbyterian Church, this conference will join large group worship and keynote with small groups focused on specific areas of need and coached by experienced practitioners.

By George Anderson

 

peersPeer Groups receive both disdain and praise from new pastors.   By “Peer Groups,” I do not mean ministers gathering for relaxation and play, but rather peer groups intended for mutual support for the work of ministry.  Some of the best and worst experiences of new ministers have come when they have gathered, or have been gathered, as support groups.

This irony of disdain and praise for peer groups became clear to me while on sabbatical two summers ago to study programs of nurture for new ministers.  I interviewed many newly ordained ministers.  Those who were in groups that had little guidance and content often complained about the experience.  They spoke of “griping,” “bragging,” “sharing ignorance,” and “time shared unequally within the group.”

Based on these anecdotes, it would be a grave mistake to deduce that time with peers is not important.  The truth is quite the opposite. As an extreme example, consider those ministers I interviewed who were in the most highly structured and intentional programs I studied; the two-year Transition in Ministry (TIM) programs.  With the TIM programs in the cities I visited (Atlanta, Dallas, and Indianapolis), the residents are automatically in peer groups.  They meet with other residents in the same congregation or with residents in other churches in the same city.  The residents receive a great deal of supervision, coaching and content.  They are supervised by Heads of Staff, coached by experienced pastors and lay people, receive feedback from church members, are assigned reading, study best practices, and attend larger gatherings for TIM residents around the country.  The residents were grateful for all that was made available to them.

I interviewed at least 20 TIM residents and I asked them what they most valued about the program.  Given the negative feedback from those who complained about agenda-less peer groups, one might guess that they appreciated most the structured guidance and content they received.  However, the answer I heard the most was not the wonderful mentoring, supervision, coaching, content or study.  What they valued most was what they gained from their peers.

Their time together was so significant because they grew, learned, received guidance, and practiced together.  Their peer experience was so meaningful because of the “content” that provided the “context” for their experience.

I received the same feedback from ministers in peer groups with a far less funding and organization than TIM programs but which are intentional when they meet.  Perhaps they do one or more of the following: seek guidance from mentors or teachers, share best practices, study a book, or worship and pray together.  Members of these groups gave the same answer as those TIM residents: peer relationships- not the content of what they learn- are what they most treasure.

What can be learned from this is simple, but often lost in peers groups formed with the goal of ‘supporting one another.’ Deep, sustaining, relationships with peers are best formed through shared disciplines.

I have benefited greatly from two intentional peer groups that have each met annually well over 20 years.  As someone who could not imagine ministry without their support, combined with what I learned on sabbatical, I encourage ministers to seek out peers groups that have some kind of agenda that promotes a journey together.  Peer relationship are key, but mean the most when peers are learning and growing together.